Thanks Jerry. Stupid me did one of those ASSume things.

Thank you ebnut. I thought I might have to rewire one of my A units to run in reverse!

Question for "Real Railroad" people. The ones that sing "I've been Working on the Railroad" in the shower.

When railroads ran diesels in tandem, was there a rule of thumb if they ran one of the A units in reverse?  Looked up pictures on the Internet and they show the trailing A unit facing in either direction.

Thanks for your response fieromike. I realize that the wiring would be the same but I did a lousy job of asking a two part question.

If I can find some that are already made that would influence where they would go - control panel or layout.

Does anyone know of a good web site that describes how to build (simple)or a place to purchase turnout direction indicator lights to put on a layout - not on the control panel.

Thanks.

Called Bachmann Service  Department and I explained my problem. He told me how to remove the decoder. Problem was that the decoder was hardwired so I can't simple unplug it and install the jumpers. Called Bachmann again and he told me to send the engine back for repair.

This is the most fun and frustrating hobby I have ever been involved with. Working on my Alfa Romeo Spider is easier.

I had bought a Steam Locomotive from an eBay store. Ran for about 5 minutes and one of the Wheel Rods (? terminology) feel off - derailed and bent the rod. I sent it to Backmann. Got a personal telephone call saying they did not have the parts to fix it and if it was OK to send me a DCC Heavy Mountain. Just got it a couple of hours OK.

Now here is my problem. I am running DC. After running the Heavy Mountain for maybe 10 minutes or so - it stops. I noticed that the tender is very warm. If I let it cool down  - its off and running again - heats up and stops.  I am thinking that maybe this engine doesn't like DC. I have read somewhere that not all DCC engines will run on DC.

Here is the "QUESTION":

Can I remove the DCC board in the tender and have a DC engine?

Thanks Railhead. I am new at this but I am finding that if you do some work on the Bachmann turnouts ( or is that switch - another thread  ) you can get them to work. The spring seems to be OK. The mechanism that operates which direction you throw the turnout has to be adjusted so that the tension on the spring is about the same in either direction. Also filing points , railguards and any other rough spot you can find helps a lot.

I read in other post (HO I think) that the springs in the Bachman turnouts seem to be weak. I notice that with some turnouts electrical contact is lost where the points contact the rails after a train runs for awhile - probably due to vibration. If I reset the turnout (flip the switch) once in awhile I don't have the problem.

Has anyone replaced the spring with a stonger one on N turnouts? With what?

Thanks.

My next big step is to complete my wiring and build a control panel. How about some picture from you "Oldtimers" out there so I can steal some ideas!!!!!!

Trainman,

I am a newbie so what do I know but I found that new engines (and even old ones that have not been run for awhile) get better and better the longer you run them. Run it in a oval or whatever for a couple of hours - change speeds once in awhile. Sure seems to help alot.

Hey Bob,

Took me awhile but I finally figured out how. EMail me when your done with your afternoon nap!!!!!

Thanks Bob. Sent you an eMail through this system but not sure where or if it went!!!!!!

Thanks Bob. Got into a habit of putting things here. Seem to get a quicker response than if you post in N scale.  More people read this and Ho than N.
Do you have a turnout preference for HO?

Just had my second N gauge turnout short out. Everything was working fine and all of a sudden I had a short. Drove me nuts for awhile. One switch was humming. Took it apart  and the insulation on one of the green wires was striped from the wire where the 3 wires were pulled apart and touching the bottom metal plate.  Very poor workmanship. Don't know if I should be mad at Bachmann or the Chinese person that put this together.

I want to run trains and not spend hours trying to get poor quality parts to work.

What is everyone's favorite turnout? How do you connect it to EZ Track?

Thank you.